The excellent comprehensive properties of the titanium and the titanium alloy can be widely applied in the aerospace field, etc., but as compared to the aluminum alloy and the ferrous materials, the high cost limits the broader use of the titanium alloy, particularly in the civil field, so in order to popularize the application of the titanium alloy, it is necessary to research and develop the low cost titanium alloy and the manufacturing technique thereof. Among the relative higher cost factors in the titanium alloy, the vacuum melting and processing account for 60% of the total cost, the raw materials account for 40% of the total cost, therefore the titanium alloy composition design by using the inexpensive alloy elements may effectively reduce the costs of the titanium alloy.
Among the inexpensive alloy elements, the iron element is one of the most common, the most widely used elements, and the iron element is an excellent β phase stable element among the titanium alloy. Adding a certain amount of the iron into the titanium alloy may lower the phase transformation point, stabilize the β phase, and improve the hot and cold processing property of materials, so Fe is widely used in many titanium alloys. For example, adding 2% (mass %) of the iron into the aerial TB6 alloy may improve the thermoforming property, which is very suitable for the isothermal forging and the super-plastic forming processes.
The Industrial pure iron, the carbon steel and the cast iron may be used as the master alloy to realize that the iron element and the traces of the carbon element are added into the titanium alloy, and adding a certain amount of the aluminum element can further improve the strength of titanium alloy. Our previous experiments also show that a certain amount of the iron element in the titanium alloy has a very good strengthening effect.